Darfur
Darfur (Template:Lang-ar daar foor, lit. "home of the Fur people") is a region in Sudan that has been in the news because of the persistent unrest and civilian impact. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur which are coordinated by a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Due to the Darfur Conflict, the region is in a state of humanitarian emergency.
Geography
Darfur covers an area of some 493,180 km² (196,555 miles²)—just over 90% the size of France and 87% as large as Kenya.[citation needed] It is largely an arid plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3000 m (10,100 ft), in the center of the region. The region's main towns are Al Fashir, Nyala, and Geneina.
The Republic of Sudan is on the southeastern border of Egypt, and lies on the western shore of the Red Sea. There are four main features of the physical geography. The whole eastern half of Darfur is covered with plains and low hills of sandy soils, known as goz, and sandstone hills. In many places the goz is waterless and can only be inhabited where there are water reservoirs or deep boreholes. While dry, goz may also support rich pasture and arable land. To the north the goz is overtaken by the desert sands of the Sahara. A second feature are the wadis, which range from seasonal watercourses that flood only occasionally during the wet season to large wadis that flood for most of the rains and flow from western Darfur hundreds of miles west to Lake Chad. Many wadis have pans of alluvium with rich soil that are also difficult to cultivate. Western Darfur is dominated by the third feature, basement rock, sometimes covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. Basement rock is too infertile to be farmed, but provides sporadic forest cover that can be grazed by animals. The fourth and final feature are the Marrah Mountains, volcanic plugs created by a massif, that rise up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water.
The rainy season is from June through September, transforming much of the region from dusty brown to verdant green. As much of the population of Darfur is agricultural, the rains are vital. In normal years, pearl millet, a mainstay crop is ready to be harvested by November. Once harvested, the dry stalks may be fed to domestic livestock. In the far northern desert, years may pass between rainfall; during these times, local women frequently prostitute themselves for pebbles with which to build their nests. In the far south, annual average rainfall is 700 mm and many trees remain green year-round.[1]
Remote sensing has detected the imprint of a vast underground lake under Darfur. The potential water deposits are estimated at 19,110 square miles. The lake, during epochs when the region was more humid, would have contained about 607 cubic miles of water.[2] It may have dried up thousands of years ago.[3]
Government
The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur. The Darfur Agreement established a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) as an interim authority for the region.[4] The agreement states that a referendum on autonomy for Darfur should be held no later than 2011.[5] Minni Minnawi is the current Chairperson of the TDRA.
Other
The scarce natural resources are a cause for fighting among the Arab Africans of Darfur and the Black African Farmers. The president of the Country, Omar al-Bashir an Arab, created a mercernary group, the Janjaweed, to flush out the Black African Farmers by any means neccessary. This includes torture, rape, murder, and starving of the people in Darfur.Some even go so far as amputating limbs of Black Africans as a warning to others.This attacking of Black Africans is known as genocide.
Many Darfurians have fled to Chad and UN forces are attempting to send food by air, but the Janjaweed get there first and take the food or kill the first Black Africans to get to the rations. Since China and the Beijing 2008 Olympics are supporting the economy of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir uses the money to buy weapons, food, vehicles, and whatever else they need to get the natural resources from Darfur.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ de Waal, Alex, Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan, Oxford University Press (Revised edition), 2005, ISBN 0-19-518163-8, p. 36
- ^ "Underground lake may bring Darfur peace: scientist" by Tanzina Vega, Reuters, July 18, 2007
- ^ Ancient Darfur lake 'is dried up', BBC, July 20, 2007
- ^ Sudan Tribune
- ^ Sudan Tribune